Buff Orpington rooster or Light Brahma rooster

[Jesus loves me]

Hello, I am planning on starting a flock of chickens this spring and am trying to determine which breed of rooster I should get. So far I am planning on getting Wyandotte's hens, Light Brahma hens, Buff Orpington hens, and New Hampshire hens. I would like a rooster that gets along well with other breeds of chickens and is also friendly and good around young kids and am hoping to maybe try to free range my chickens. Thank you!

 

[FrostRanger]

Both breeds are generally chill but the individual bird's temperament is far more important. Roosters of either breed can be gentlemen or jerks

However, since you have young children I'd advise against getting a rooster at all for now as if you do end up with a mean roo, he can seriously hurt a small child, plus small children can be loud and rambunctious which can be threatening to a rooster and provoke an attack. Wait a few years until your children are older

 

[Yardmom]

Do you plan to hatch chicks, or have other plans that would require a rooster? Not all roosters are bad. When my children were young they handled the roosters all the time. We did cull two roos over the years for bad behavior out of about a two dozen.

 

[Jesus loves me]

Do you plan to hatch chicks, or have other plans that would require a rooster? Not all roosters are bad. When my children were young they handled the roosters all the time. We did cull two roos over the years for bad behavior out of about a two dozen.

Yes, I am planning on hatching chicks. Thank you for the information, as of right now I think I am going to go with the Buff Orpington rooster!

 

[nuthatched]

I'd go with the Brahma, orps tend to be inbred.

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

I'd go with the buff Orpington (though I’m probably a little biased). Though keep in mind that he could still be a jerk to everyone!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hello, I am planning on starting a flock of chickens this spring and am trying to determine which breed of rooster I should get. So far I am planning on getting Wyandotte's hens, Light Brahma hens, Buff Orpington hens, and New Hampshire hens. I would like a rooster that gets along well with other breeds of chickens

I dislike breed behavioral discussions. As far as behaviors, breed is so unimportant compared to the individual personalities. If you read enough stories on here you can find examples of where a rooster or a hen of any breed is an absolute brute toward other chickens or toward humans. You can find other stories where they were absolute sweethearts to either or both.

Besides, you are not talking about breeds getting along with each other, you are talking about a rooster and his hens. That definitely depends on individual personalities of both the male and the females.

and is also friendly and good around young kids

Has nothing to do with breed. For thousands of years, ever since chickens were first domesticated, people have been raising free ranging chickens and kids together. I grew up on one of those farms. Some roosters do become human aggressive. If they do, young kids are a dangerous target. Not only are their eyes fairly low so in range of beaks, claws and spurs, they are not that good at defending themselves.

Dad kept a free ranging flock that had one rooster and about 25 to 30 hens. By the time I was six it was my chore to collect the eggs. I collected them in late afternoon after they had all laid but they were still out of the coop so minimal interaction. By the time I was ten I was handling the broody hens. Again fairly minimal interaction. If my work or play took me near the chickens it was generally out in the open, lots of room for all of us. I don't recall any issues with a rooster though I got pecked and flogged a couple of times by a broody hen. Some or those hens can be mean though most were not bad. Again individual personalities.

I'll tell this story. A few years back somebody on this forum had a great rooster. I don't remember breed, I don't think that is important. Things were fine for quite a while, then one day the rooster started attacking his five-year-old son. If that rooster saw the boy from a distance the rooster would run over and attack. There was no question that rooster had to be permanently removed. There was a story behind the attacks. The boy had begun chasing the hens. Scaring them. Making them think they were under threat. As a good flock master, the rooster started protecting his hens. He did exactly as he was supposed to and it cost him his life.

Some roosters are going to be human aggressive from the day they are hatched. That is just their personality. Some can be made human aggressive by our actions. Young children are at risk from a rooster. That risk will never go away. But you can mitigate that risk by immediately removing a rooster that threatens your child and by controlling your child's interactions with the chickens.

and am hoping to maybe try to free range my chickens.

People gave been doing that for thousands of years. How much room do you have? Will they be hanging around your back porch and pooping there? Will your kids be able to play outside without intermingling with the chickens and stepping in chicken poop? You can try free ranging and see how it goes. Often it is successful. But I'd have a way to lock them up on a moment's notice if it doesn't work out.

Yes, I am planning on hatching chicks. Thank you for the information, as of right now I think I am going to go with the Buff Orpington rooster!

The only reason you need a rooster is if you want to hatch chicks, so yes, you need one. Why do you want to hatch chicks? What traits do you want the chicks to have? Again, I'm not talking about behaviors, I'm talking about actual breed differences.

If you are hatching for meat, when do you plan to butcher them? The Brahma will eventually get bigger but will be slower to mature. You will get better meat production if you butcher early while the meat is still relatively tender with the Orp. If you want volume and will wait until they are 8 months or more old, the Brahma might be better.

With color/pattern genetics and those hens, the chicks will look more like their father with a Light Brahma. His genetics are more dominant. With a Buff Orp father the chicks will take more after their mother.

This can vary a lot due to the individual, but Orpington tend to lay more eggs and larger eggs than Brahmas according to Henderson's Breed Chart. Pullets do inherit egg laying traits from their fathers as well as their mothers. This is a breed tendency but I'll try to emphasize that this varies a lot based on the individual.

Both Orpington and Brahmas are known to go broody a lot. Again, pullets can inherit this from their fathers as well as from their mothers.

Brahmas have a Pea comb, Orpington a Single comb. The pea comb is partially dominant so his offspring will show a pea comb effect. If you live where it gets really cold a pea comb is less likely to get frostbite than a single comb.

Since you are considering buying a rooster, these are the breed things I'd consider before purchasing.

One of my goals with chickens is to raise them for meat. When I buy a new breed of rooster for my breeding program I buy several. You can see a lot of differences in cockerels from the same flock. By getting and raising several I get meat for the freezer and can keep the one that best suits my goals.

Good luck!

 

[Mrs. K]

If this is your first year with chickens, start with an all hen flock. You have years to do this hobby, if you work into it, it gives you time to get some experience and to test out your coop and run.

Often times flock mate roosters do not work out. People like the idea of raising up their own, but many people have a reluctance to cull a bird they have raised and a lot of roosters are not safe no matter how they were raised.

Once your hens are laying, look around for a good rooster. Get one close to a year old, raised in a multi-generational flock, and is so nice that he was not culled by someone who would have culled him if he wasn’t. The breed is really immaterial the first few years while you get things figured out.

Mrs K